Having always been a Star Wars fan I was waiting for the Kinect version with a large element of expectation and a fair dose of excitement. As every child (at least male child) since the 70's has probably imagined them being a Jedi Knight (whether good or evil), the Kinect experience promises to deliver on that imagination more than any PC or typical console game could.
Typically when I receive a new game, I like to give my self at least 2-3hrs of uninterrupted game time, to really immerse myself with the game and it's experience, the time I laid aside for this game was no different ....... a major problem this was going to be in the following days!!
The opening scene of C3P0 and R2D2 arguing in the halls of some archives is entertaining the first time round, C3P0 introduces himself to you and gives you some choices about which archives you want to investigate, you choose an archive and then you play out the story within the archive. There are a number of options here, I personally liked the Jedi story (over course) and the Pod Racing but for the dancing divas amongst you there is a dance option too (my two left feet would not allow me to pick this option!!).
I have read mixed reviews about this game, all I am going to say about the more negative ones is this, these reviewers very clearly must love the sound of their own drivilous rantings and very clearly have no imagination, I would challenge every gamer who has a Kinect to get this game (or hire it at your local video store) and tell me there was nothing great about it.
As a Jedi Knight the first thing you have to do is pick up your Light Saber using the force (oh, I could feel the power flow through me!!) and then you have to tackle a series of little battle drones and practice duelling with some class mates, all fairly harmless stuff. The next scene, you are flying to the home world of Chewbacca where you continue your training on how to run, jump, pick objects up using the force, use the force to blow shit up (oh yeah!!) and finish off by using the force to deflect objects coming at you, all under the watchful eye of Yoda!! At the end of the training (the sweat is starting to show by now) the Empire decide they are going to launch a full on assault on the planet ... convenient, lucky us Padwans are there to help out. Once you are in the fight, you are slashing and jumping and slashing and jumping some more, riding speeders through forests, oh more slashing and jumping (heart rate starts climbing, the breath is getting shorter) and eventually you get back to Chewbacca's ship (effectively a Millennium Falcon) where you get to jump in the gunners seat (tell me your not salivating with excitement know). After shooting down a crap load of Tie Fighters Chewy does some heroic flying to land on one of the destroyers where you end up doing lots more slashing ad jumping and kicking, by now the sweat is free flowing, the shoulders are screaming for you to stop and there is almost know way you could have a conversation with someone standing next to you, but I found myself continuing on because the universe was relying on me!!
Fortunately throughout all this there are a regular cut scenes to catch your breath and suck you deeper into the story, periodically a warning comes up reminding you to take a break (Like the Sith Lord would give you time to have a cup of tea!!). Having played for just over 2 hours I can safely say I was knackered, far more effective than a gym workout and immensely more enjoyable. I had a friend come round later that day to try it out, so I played another hour or so doing two player and then I played the following day for another 2-3 hours, by the end of the weekend I was finished (my body that is, not the game) and I was sore in the calves, thighs, shoulders, chest and back for about 3 days afterwards ............ awesome!!
I now have a new found respect for the real Jedi's (yes of course they exist!) and their fitness levels, the day after my wife says to me in her infinite wisdom "Stretch before gaming you did, no?" need I say any more .........!!
Typically when I receive a new game, I like to give my self at least 2-3hrs of uninterrupted game time, to really immerse myself with the game and it's experience, the time I laid aside for this game was no different ....... a major problem this was going to be in the following days!!
The opening scene of C3P0 and R2D2 arguing in the halls of some archives is entertaining the first time round, C3P0 introduces himself to you and gives you some choices about which archives you want to investigate, you choose an archive and then you play out the story within the archive. There are a number of options here, I personally liked the Jedi story (over course) and the Pod Racing but for the dancing divas amongst you there is a dance option too (my two left feet would not allow me to pick this option!!).
I have read mixed reviews about this game, all I am going to say about the more negative ones is this, these reviewers very clearly must love the sound of their own drivilous rantings and very clearly have no imagination, I would challenge every gamer who has a Kinect to get this game (or hire it at your local video store) and tell me there was nothing great about it.
As a Jedi Knight the first thing you have to do is pick up your Light Saber using the force (oh, I could feel the power flow through me!!) and then you have to tackle a series of little battle drones and practice duelling with some class mates, all fairly harmless stuff. The next scene, you are flying to the home world of Chewbacca where you continue your training on how to run, jump, pick objects up using the force, use the force to blow shit up (oh yeah!!) and finish off by using the force to deflect objects coming at you, all under the watchful eye of Yoda!! At the end of the training (the sweat is starting to show by now) the Empire decide they are going to launch a full on assault on the planet ... convenient, lucky us Padwans are there to help out. Once you are in the fight, you are slashing and jumping and slashing and jumping some more, riding speeders through forests, oh more slashing and jumping (heart rate starts climbing, the breath is getting shorter) and eventually you get back to Chewbacca's ship (effectively a Millennium Falcon) where you get to jump in the gunners seat (tell me your not salivating with excitement know). After shooting down a crap load of Tie Fighters Chewy does some heroic flying to land on one of the destroyers where you end up doing lots more slashing ad jumping and kicking, by now the sweat is free flowing, the shoulders are screaming for you to stop and there is almost know way you could have a conversation with someone standing next to you, but I found myself continuing on because the universe was relying on me!!
Fortunately throughout all this there are a regular cut scenes to catch your breath and suck you deeper into the story, periodically a warning comes up reminding you to take a break (Like the Sith Lord would give you time to have a cup of tea!!). Having played for just over 2 hours I can safely say I was knackered, far more effective than a gym workout and immensely more enjoyable. I had a friend come round later that day to try it out, so I played another hour or so doing two player and then I played the following day for another 2-3 hours, by the end of the weekend I was finished (my body that is, not the game) and I was sore in the calves, thighs, shoulders, chest and back for about 3 days afterwards ............ awesome!!
I now have a new found respect for the real Jedi's (yes of course they exist!) and their fitness levels, the day after my wife says to me in her infinite wisdom "Stretch before gaming you did, no?" need I say any more .........!!